


Dawn at the Mayo Clinic

by ChiaraRose



Series: Win Lives [3]
Category: The Trixie Belden Mysteries - Julie Campbell Tatham & Kathryn Kenny
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-03 23:44:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14007438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChiaraRose/pseuds/ChiaraRose
Summary: Jim waits for the result of his father's surgery, a story for Jixanny 2018 and those who wanted a sequel to "The Frayne Family Moves to Sleepyside."





	Dawn at the Mayo Clinic

Jim Frayne stared out the hospital window instead of at his psychology textbook or at the eternally blaring TV. He’d been in the hospital since 5:30 that morning. When they’d wheeled his father down the hall to surgery, he’d gone to the cafeteria and consumed three bear claws before he realized what he was doing, just stuffing his face and his fears at the same time. He’d come up to the waiting room after a bunch of snot-nosed brats cued up that damn—dumb— purple dinosaur on their DVD player. He left before he told them that Barney was now offering Tantric sex for $350 per session. That as much as anything told him how distressed he was, he who planned to run a school. So he’d returned to the waiting room, in hopes of avoiding most of the world.  
  
He wouldn’t have minded being with the Bob-Whites, but they were all back in New York, busy with their lives. And tonight the other six would be all together in Sleepyside for the girls’ junior prom. He’d checked out of those discussions several days ago, after his roommate Brian texted Dan to order an orchid at the Sleepyside florist for Honey too; they go with everything. Fuming, Jim avoided the Bob-White slack channel, google group, texts, emails, and even conversation with Brian, because everyone should know that Honey’s favorite flower was a goldish rose called Honey Perfume (of course) that would certainly go well with the coral formal that Honey had been discussing for weeks. It felt weird not to be involved with something so important to all the other Bob-Whites. Honey had offered to see if Hallie Belden or Sally Wilkerson could come into town as his date, but by that time his father’s surgery was pretty much pinned down to the same day as the dance. Jim told Honey to go have a good time and not worry about him.  
  
He couldn’t believe how long it had taken to get to this day, the last of his father’s surgeries to repair the damage caused in a bad car accident from some years ago. They hadn’t had the money or insurance to get it done before, and when his father went to work for Matt Wheeler, first he had to go through his probationary period to earn his insurance; then he wanted to get settled in his job; then the doctors argued at length about what exactly could be done; finally Matt Wheeler stepped in and sent Win Frayne to the Mayo Clinic with instructions that sounded like threats to the clinic and insurance company that they’d better restore his friend and employee to pain-free functionality. And somehow that had taken several years, until now Jim was a freshman in college and legally an adult, though his father had taken him aside and told him to rely on Matt Wheeler if anything went wrong and Jim found himself alone.  
  
That only confirmed Jim’s deepest fear and belief, that parents don’t come out of the hospital. His mother hadn’t, after all. They hadn’t thought his father would, after the accident. This time, they were sure that he would, but Jim hadn’t bought into it yet, as he knew when he would have growled at the children he normally loved and he’d read one page five times without understanding any of it.  
  
He sighed and slammed the book shut. When his father’s surgery was scheduled for April, shortly before final exams, he’d gone to all his professors and asked if he could finish his coursework before then, because he needed to keep his grades up for his scholarships. He still remembered how his grades had fallen after his mother died and his father had painfully dragged himself into the school offices and informed the officials that they would give his son a chance to make up the work he’d missed and flubbed. If things went wrong this time, there would be no one to do that for Jim, but most of his professors had been understanding. One said that Jim didn’t have to take the final because his scores were so high already; another gave him an extra paper to write in lieu of the final (which Jim had already turned in); another professor, the one with a sense of humor, told Jim to make a final exam as his final exam; another gave him a quiz over the last material covered, the only part not previously tested. But of course his psychology professor said to try to take the exam and they’d talk about it afterwards, if Jim found he needed help. So here he sat with a fat textbook whose simplest sentence he was beyond comprehending. He was staring out the window into the fog, unable to see through it any more than he could see through the next few hours—he’d been warned that the surgery would take a long time as the surgeons would try to piece things back together, rebreaking bones as necessary.  
  
He winced when he heard footsteps, soft on the industrial carpet. He kept his gaze firmly out the window in hopes of avoiding conversation.  
  
“Jim,” said a low female voice.  
He turned in astonishment and sprang√ to his feet to grab Honey Wheeler close to him.  
  
“I couldn’t leave you here by yourself,” she murmured in a strangled voice, because he held her so tight.  
  
“How? Why? Honey, I’m so glad to see you,” he mumbled into her hair, golden and citrus-scented.  
  
She tried to laugh as she smoothed her wide skirt. These days, she wore clothes that accented her developing figure. “I practiced my rich bitch persona and got Daddy to fly me in his plane—Miss Trask and me—out to see you. I kind of liked it, everybody doing what I wanted. And she was so worried.” Honey’s voice dropped to a barely audible whisper.  
  
Jim released her to squeeze her hands and then hugged her former governess and the Wheeler’s current estate manager, Miss Margery Trask, who’d followed close behind her.  
  
After a quick hug from Jim, Miss Trask said, “I couldn’t let her go alone, could I?”  
  
Jim and Honey exchanged amused glances as Miss Trask settled herself in the chair nearest the door and brought out her knitting. No one knew what she was knitting—they never received embarrassing sweaters or afghans—but somehow she always had a project. She and Jim’s father had been dating in a cautious way, and Jim and Honey had long since joined forces to promote the relationship.  
  
Jim dropped his textbook on the floor as Honey settled down next to him. He whispered, “But the dance tonight. Are you going back in time for it?”  
  
Honey shook her head. At Jim’s explanation, she explained in a whisper, “Oh, Jim, I’ve been to proms before. I’ll have another prom next year. But I couldn’t leave you alone at this time. You didn’t want to be alone, did you?”  
  
He squeezed her shoulders. “Of course not. Look, I’ll make it up to you and Brian. I’ll pay for a fantastic date in New York City for the both of you. Heck, let’s make it an all-Bob-White night—“ He broke off as Honey emphatically shook her head.  
  
“Let’s wait on that.” It was her turn to look out the window, two bright spots of color on her cheeks. “It was easier to call it off because Brian complained about needing to study. And honestly…” she sighed and leaned into Jim. “Honestly, I think he likes me because he used to like me. And I’m his sister’s best friend. And when I think about breaking up with him, I think about how much it would hurt Trixie. And Mart. Even Bobby. But I think Brian would look relieved and go back to his studies. You work hard, but you don’t study as much as he does. You write me more than he does.” Honey bit her lip and pulled in her lips, probably to stop their trembling.  
  
Of course I do; I love you, Jim didn’t say. He’d been watching in agony for a year while his best friend dated the girl he himself loved. He’d just realized he loved her around the time she and Brian started going out, and his feelings only grew stronger, even after he and Brian went to college.  
  
“This summer, when he comes home for more than a weekend, I’ll talk to him,” she said, her voice going still lower.  
“I’m glad, but you know Trixie—or Mart or Bobby—would never want you and Brian together if you truly didn’t love each other. And of course the Bob-Whites love each other, but not necessarily in that way…” His voice trailed off as he couldn’t figure out what to say.  
“Can you imagine how Moms will cry?” asked Honey, her own voice cracking.  
  
Jim squeezed her shoulders again. “You know Moms and all the Bob-Whites want you and Brian to be happy, whether that’s together or not.”  
  
She laid her head on his shoulder, and he put both arms around her, rocking gently, oblivious to Miss Trask’s covert interest as her knitting needles clacked.  
  
It felt like they’d been in that position a long time when a doctor walked into the room and told them that Win Frayne had come through the operation just fine, and they expected great improvement from the surgery, both in terms of pain and function. It was Jim’s turn to bury his head on Honey’s shoulder.  
  
When the doctor said he could go see his father in the recovery room, he lifted his head and said, “His fiancée should go first. I can’t even get up right now.” He felt so wobbly as relief rushed through him. He couldn’t possibly stand. Honey squeezed his hand  
  
Miss Trask blushed fifty shades of red, but she stood up when Jim smiled at her. As she followed the doctor down the hall, Jim let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding and said to Honey. “Okay, so not Brian, but how about you go dancing with me tonight? I want to celebrate.”  
  
“But Jim, I didn’t bring any fancy clothes. I bet you didn’t either.”  
  
Jim kissed her cheek, causing her to draw back with a sharp breath. “Okay, so go buy something for yourself. Heck, buy something for me, something to make you proud to be seen with me. I imagine I’ll be here most of the day, but at some point, they’ll kick me out, and then we’ll dance until dawn, or as late as Miss Trask will let you stay out.”  
  
At that point, Miss Trask came tapping down the hall, her brisk heels back to their usual speed. “Jim, your father wants to see you.” Her face continued to change color as she said. “And Jim, I am your father’s fiancée. He just asked me, when I told him how you got me to go back. He said he was waiting until he knew how the surgery came out. I hope that’s all right with you.” She held a handkerchief to her eyes as she rushed down the hall to a bathroom.  
  
“I’m thrilled,” called Jim after her. With Honey leaning against him, he got to his feet. He smiled down at her and hugged her close. “Remember, we’re going to dance the night away tonight.”  
  
Honey gave him a secret smile as she launched him towards his father’s room and a new life.


End file.
